By Terry Mahoney
Cappo, League 13
As baseball season heads out of April and into May, teams are beginning to find themselves. Flash in the pan teams are losing their luster while popular pre-season picks are starting to find themselves.
If baseball’s April 2008 taught the talking heads at ESPN anything, it’s this: they play 162 games for a reason. Remember, in my power rankings, a team must show sustained growth or decline in order to move significantly in the rankings. Where has April taken us?
By Terry Mahoney
Cappo, League 13
Power rankings are a popular way to track team strength throughout a year, and these were constructed to lay out the upcoming 2008 baseball season.
First, I have to start with a disclaimer–these rankings are my subjective opinion. No personal statistical analysis went into the construction of this list. Instead, I have done a fair bit of research in order to help me form my own opinions.
During the season, these rankings will be updated according to past performance–and, mostly, in line with my expectations of future success. For instance, just because they are on a ‘hot’ streak, a flash in the pan team will not jump to number one during a given two or three week period. A team must show sustained growth or decline in order to move significantly in the rankings.
So, who has got the juice this year? Who will win each division? The AL and NL? The World Series?
By Bob in Cleveland
League 4
“Outlaws United BC”
Greetings, fellow Mafia members … and welcome to the 2008 fantasy baseball season!
One of the most beautiful things about playing fantasy baseball is the sudden appearance of a Winter avalanche of player projections. Like poorly timed Cleveland snowstorms, you wake up buried under everyone’s “expert” opinion. Let’s face it. When most of us “go out and buy a book or a magazine”, quoting our esteemed Wire Tap colleagues, we find out that our choices are unlimited. In the end, though, as you gear up for the 2008 season, you’ll undoubtedly be assaulted by dozens of projections. My advanced apologies for adding to the overload, but I find myself compelled to add my two cents to the mix.